Loneliness is a friend of mine, too
by S. Pendragon
Summary: In a future where there is no place for heroes in Utopia, what can two immortals do but stay? Flashvibe/Barrisco. One-shot. Future!fic.


_Sort of a mix of the DC movies in here, along with the Vibe comics (new 52). But the Barry and Cisco I imagine are from the television show._

 _\- S. Pendragon_

* * *

It is the future. The rest of the universe is becoming inhabited by humans- and this was born out of necessity.

The humans had killed the home planet they called Earth.

Laws were passed, people campaigned, people fought, but already it was too late. Their planet had begun dying, and soon it would irreparably be dead.

So they fled.

Every human, alien, plant, animal, metahuman, creature- every single one had fled. They built their spaceships, they took their plants and their animals and their people, and they flew off into the stars- making new homes on Mars, on Pluto, on planets beyond even the solar system.

But some stayed.

* * *

Vibe sits in an empty room, surrounded by technology he doesn't remember creating.

He knows he developed all of it. His muscles, they certainly remember it- the feel of the metal, as he runs it beneath his fingers, smoothly welded and every piece put together flawlessly. Every screw in place, every joint in perfect synchronization with the rest of the machine.

But he doesn't remember making it.

He puts the machine down, letting it sit on the cracked floor, and walks outside.

A flash of memory hits him as he looks at the grey sky- he remembers, once, that it was blue, and shone brightly in the daytime, then grew dark at night. But that was a long time ago, and now it is simply grey.

He makes his way out of his building, to his roof- flying up there is easy, with his scythe.

Not his.

Dante's.

This is one of the facts he has sworn to remember- Dante, his brother, gave him that scythe when he died. He knows that once, it wasn't used as a farming tool; once, it was used as a weapon. It was a symbol- of hope for some, of death for most.

But Dante is long gone, and his scythe is all that remains.

He lands on the roof, lightly, not with a thud as he once would have done. The thud was for show, to impress civilians and intimidate villains. But that time is long gone, and there is no need for it- he would only damage the building he lives in.

The building. He knows the building was important to him, once, too. It was a great machine, once, the first particle accelerator that the human race had ever created.

He knows, from reading his journals, that the particle accelerators the humans had left with were now smaller than his thumb. Who knows how they had progressed since the humans had all fled.

He supposes he could look, could reach into the recesses of his long-untouched powers and see what the humans had done to their civilizations on other planets- but that would only bring him depression, knowing he could never join them.

There was no place for heroes in utopia. And what was the point of joining civilization, if the only people he cared about were all dead?

Dimly, Vibe is aware of his surroundings. He's seen them millions of times before, watched them as they grew and changed, spread wildlife upon them, which then died and turned to stone.

Which is why, when _something_ zips by in a flash of light, he is suddenly more alert than he's been for millennia.

He rises, quicker than the long-extinct rabbits, and reaches for powers he hasn't touched in decades to protect him- but there is no need, as the flash of light suddenly stops beside him, gazing at him with a mix of wonder, confusion, and horror.

Vibe- _Cisco_ , his mind suddenly reminds him- gazes back, recognizing the color red.

He reaches out, runs his hand along the color- and his fingers _remember_ that feel. The smooth red leather, that only grows with the constant feel of kinetic energy, that collapses into a ring he made without it...

He _remembers._

With a dry, scratchy throat, he looks up at the face of the man standing in front of him, looks into those green eyes, and says a word that is phrased as a question but, to him, is a word more valuable than any in any language to ever exist.

"Barry?"

* * *

The two sit on the rooftop in silence. Neither asks for an explanation from the other, but both give it- and, ever true to themselves- both begin at the same time.

"I was-"

"It's been-"

They stop, abruptly, and then with a nod from the other, Cisco begins.

"It's been over two hundred thousand years since I last saw anyone, Barry.

I've forgotten everything. Everyone. I remember my brother, my family- the League, some of them, you- but no one else. And even those I remember, I remember very little." He hefts the scythe. "I know Dante ( _Rupture,_ his mind reminds him) gave me this. I know I wrote everything down in the journals, the journals I have downstairs. I know how to make things, how to farm, how to cook." He looks at Barry. "I know I made that suit, and that ring."

"And I remember you."  
He leans forward, and he kisses Barry, who leans into the kiss himself, giving it his all,

And Cisco remembers.

Millennia ago, fighting villains and "bad guys." Giving them ridiculous names. Spending nights awake in his building ( _STAR Labs,_ that's what it was called) trying to make the Flash suit bulletproof. Saving people from fires. Caitlin. Iris. Leonard Snart. Laurel. Oliver.

Then, later, Clark. Bruce. Diana. Kara, J'onn, Amanda Waller, the Justice League.

People, all these people who are dead and gone.

But Barry. He's still here.

Cisco breaks away from the kiss, suddenly embarrassed, feeling a flush to his cheeks like he hasn't in forever. "I'm sorry, I don't know what I was-"

"Loneliness," Barry says, his voice soft. "She's an old friend of mine, too."  
And Barry begins his explanation.

"Originally, I was going to go along with them, to Utopia, to Mars, to some other planet out there. But I couldn't. I couldn't bear loving and losing any more people," he says softly, staring at Cisco. "So instead, I went into the speedforce. And I stayed there for a long time, Cisco- I stayed there, and I pretended it was real.

"But it wasn't. None of it was real.

"So, I don't know how long after, I decided to sweep the Earth for survivors. The speedforce told me where the last seeds were, and I planted them. I hope they grow. The rain isn't so acidic anymore. But I didn't know if anyone else had stayed.

"I know some people did. I found-" he chokes, coughing, shaking his head to reassert himself- "I found CCPN. Do you remember that? The newspaper? I found what was- what was left of Wally. I don't think his connection to the speedforce was the same as mine. He lived a long time, but he wasn't immortal."  
Cisco remembers Wally. _Kid Flash._ He made that suit, too.

"I found Clark. I know Kara- I know she left, to sleep in the Phantom Zone until Utopia was finished, but Clark- he, um, I found his bones sitting by Lois' grave. They were glowing. I don't think they'll rot for a long time.

"And then I found you. I've been alone, Cisco, for so long- I didn't, I didn't think you were still alive."  
Cisco smiled. "I didn't think you were, either. I've been alone, too."  
"You know," Barry hesitated, standing, "we don't have to be alone, anymore. We could- I could stay here. With you."

"I have a better idea," Cisco whispered, and he stood too. With a slash of the red scythe that had once belonged to his brother, he reached into the depths of his powers and opened a breach in front of them. A portal that, if used right, could take them anywhere.

"Let's find Utopia, Barry."

Barry grinned, took Cisco's arm, and _ran._


End file.
